United States – A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday rejected the appeal of Steven Bannon, a former Chief Strategist for former President Donald Trump, and kept the conviction over a subpoena issue with the Commission of Inquiry on the January 6 Capitol attack.
Sentencing and Legal Options
The ruling signifies that Bannon is one step closer to serving his contempt-of-Congress sentence, which is four months, after all he can still appeal, as reported by Reuters.
In 2022, Bannon was charged with one misdemeanor count of each kind for disobeying the documents delivery and testimony to the House of Representatives committee that was set to investigate the Capitol riot.
He has not been imprisoned until the end of his appeal process.
Bannon, a leading figure on the American right, stated on appeal that his advisor had told him he did not need to comply with the subpoena and that, as a result, he did not intend to commit a crime.
The court determined that “the narrow impact of Bannon’s argument would “limit Congress’s investigatory power” greatly by impeding the prosecution of people who refuse to give the required information for a congressional investigation.
Next Steps in Legal Battle.
A Bannon lawyer and representative did not immediately respond to comment requests via email. He can submit an appeal to the Court of Appeals of the DC Circuit that presides over the region and to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The House’s Democratic-led panel was probing into Trump’s efforts to sabotage the election results, and it peaked on the 6th of January 2021 when the former president’s followers stormed the Capitol as they unsuccessfully tried to halt the certification of the electoral ballots, as reported by Reuters.
The panel was eager to hear from Bannon, who had told all in his podcast just a day before the riot, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. “
Navarro’s Precedent
Bannon does not provide information to the committee regarding the committee’s decision, which he calls a political play, as reported by Reuters.
Trump’s former trade adviser, Peter Navarro, who is currently facing a four-month prison term, was asked to testify but ignored the subpoena of a similar committee.